Forget about tourists and sunburns, one of the most stressful aspects of living in Florida is dealing with the extreme heat and humidity. When the air conditioning goes out, it is never fun to deal with. What makes the event particularly stressful is the amount of uncertainty that revolves around it. It is difficult for a homeowner to evaluate the situation. They typically understand, however, that this repair could end up costing hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Once they get beyond the initial shock the system they depend on day in and day out to keep them comfortable has failed, they begin to ask wonder how long they will be in this situation. Often times in the summer it can be difficult to find a reputable contractor in a reasonable amount of time and parts could be on backorder from the distributor for weeks. Many people will wonder why the systems can't just last forever and what does actually cause them to fail.

The main reason an air conditioner will fail is due to lack of maintenance. Not only will the routine maintenance ensure that parts are moving freely and the system is clean, but a technician will also be able to identify if some parts have corroded or worn down and should be replaced prior to failure. Simple tasks like regularly replacing the filters will extend life to the system. A clogged filter will require the system to work that much more to pull air through the return.

Another reason air conditioners frequently break down in Orlando is because they get a lot of use. Not only is the temperature hot, but humidity is high. The typical Orlando homeowner will cool their house nearly 2800 hours every year. That is over 116 full days worth of operation in a year. Another way of looking at it is your air conditioner is in use 1/3 of the time. There are very few other products we operate so strenuously. Imagine if we drove a car for 8 hours a day or used a tool like a lawnmower to that extent. An HVAC system has many moving parts. They can become dirty, worn and can fail. Parts may also tend to fail more prematurely in Orlando than other parts of the country because of the high humidity. Algae and mold can grow on coils and duct systems and condensing units are exposed to the elements. Not only will the moisture cause expedited corrosion of parts but we also face some sea-salt corrosion as well.

The best way to protect yourself against surprise HVAC failures is to have a routine maintenance done semi-annually by a licensed air conditioning contractor such as Melco HVAC Services of Orlando. This will ensure that your system is operating at peak performance and parts that may be cause for concern can be replaced prior to failure.

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Melco HVAC Services of Orlando is a full service provider of air conditioning and heating products.